


Knock 'Em Dead

by athenasdragon



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Agnieszka and Sarkan are NOT a Couple, Alternate Universe - Quidditch, Fluff, Gen, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts, Hogwarts AU, Humor, Jealousy, Kasia Appreciation Week, Lack of Communication, Resentment, Uprooted Ficathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 10:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7711174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athenasdragon/pseuds/athenasdragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kasia is the fearless and talented Gryffindor Team Captain. Agnieszka is her constant cheerleader. It's time for the final game of the year, and Kasia will be facing off against Ravenclaw, led by Sarkan, their star Seeker. Kasia may have a little pent up resentment about how Sarkan treats Agnieszka, and she may also be flying on a broom and carrying a heavy bat. Let's see what happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knock 'Em Dead

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Summer 2016 Uprooted Ficathon: Kasia Appreciation Week. You can find the ficathon on Tumblr and Twitter!
> 
> I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this fic, but I think it's cute and simple, which is what I had time for around my work schedule. I hope you enjoy!

Agnieszka could hear the roar of the crowd through the thick oaken doors which separated the Gryffindor changing room from the Quidditch pitch. The thought of so many people watching her made her a little queasy, despite the fact that she wasn’t the one who had to walk through those doors.

“I don't know how you do it,” she told Kasia. “I'd probably fall off my broom in front of everyone.”

Kasia smirked as she deftly laced up her leather wrist guard one-handed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Agnieszka grinned. It was impossible to take her friend's jabs as anything besides good-natured. She stepped back to admire Kasia: Gryffindor team captain for the third and final year, resplendent in scarlet robes and leather padding. She had tied back her picturesque straw-blonde hair, but it still flowed down her back in loose waves.

“You look like a warrior goddess,” Agnieszka commented, licking her thumb to wipe a smudge of broom polish from Kasia's square jaw. “Knock 'em dead.”

Kasia gave her a thumbs-up and reached for her goggles.

“On second thought, try not to put anyone else in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey gave you a pretty dirty look when you broke three bones in one game.”

The Gryffindor captain smiled innocently as she hefted her Beater's bat. “No promises.” She glanced around at her team, then looked back at Agnieszka and pretended to frown. “Aren't you supposed to be rooting for your own house?”

“Hufflepuff isn't playing.”

“Your charming tutor, then? I think you owe him for those passing grades in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.”

“I’m sure _he_ feels that way,” Agnieszka said drily. “Besides, passing the classes isn’t the same as passing the NEWTs.”

“Eh, you always have Herbology.”

“Thank Merlin.”

“Well, I've been itching to knock Ravenclaw's star Seeker off his broom. I’m glad I have your blessing. But you're telling me you don't enjoy spending your time in Ravenclaw Tower with Sarkan, pride and joy of every Hogwarts professor?” Kasia winked, but the question was real enough.

Agnieszka bit her lip. Kasia had been the obvious choice to be tutored by Sarkan; it was common knowledge within a day of the new inter-house collaboration programs being announced. When he chose Agnieszka instead, it was hard to tell whether Kasia was relieved or disappointed. She shrugged off any questions by laughing that she’d rather be at practice than “locked up in that Tower day and night.”

Agnieszka had tried to avoid the topic at first out of consideration. But she had grown pale and thin and tired from hours spent indoors studying, and Kasia had watched, silent and worried.

It wasn’t all bad, but since they didn’t talk about the tutoring, Kasia didn’t hear about the first time Sarkan taught Agnieszka a plant-based spell and the magic flowed from her wand easily as water from a pitcher. She didn’t hear about Sarkan melting through his third cauldron practicing for a potions exam, and how Agnieszka had instinctually fixed the brew while her tutor scowled and annotated his recipe. She didn’t hear about the first time Agnieszka dragged Sarkan out to the greenhouse and forced him to experience the sensation of cool soil on his fingers. She didn’t hear about the pride in Sarkan’s smile when Agnieszka managed to pass the first terms of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, or the quiet thankfulness when _he_ passed Potions.

All Kasia saw was Agnieszka’s silent resignation, when she saw her friend at all. She had no way of knowing that things were better – that Agnieszka no longer dreaded her time spent with Sarkan in Ravenclaw Tower.

There were times that Agnieszka wanted to tell her – but then, she and Kasia used to spend every waking hour together. Would it sting more to know that her best friend didn’t want to be rescued from Sarkan’s tutelage? Would Kasia see it as a betrayal?

So Agnieszka forced a laugh. “I'd rather be locked in that tower with a dragon.”

Kasia laughed, shattering the tension, and tilted her head towards the doors, where the announcer's introduction had been drowned out by the cheering crowd. “Better not keep them waiting. Gryffindors take their Quidditch _very_ seriously.

Agnieszka grabbed her friend's hand and squeezed. “Good luck!”

Kasia ducked down to kiss Agnieszka's forehead. “Don't need it.”

“I know.” With one last bright smile, Agnieszka slipped her hand free and jogged towards the back of the changing room. It was maze-like, cluttered with benches and drapes of gold and scarlet fabric, but she shrugged past a broom stand and out into bright sunlight.

It was a perfect day for the final game of the year: fair and mild, warm but not yet hot; dew still lingered on the thick, springy grass of the grounds. It soaked into the hem of Agnieszka's robes as she hurried around to the stands and scrambled up to her usual seat. Here, in the Hufflepuff section, the crowd was somewhat subdued. The same could not be said of the Gryffindors to their right.

The cheering became earsplitting as Kasia and her team took the field. They waved and bowed, beaming at their adoring fans, brooms trailing across the verdant pitch. Agnieszka ignored the looks she received from her classmates and she clapped. It was quite a display for her.

The Ravenclaw section sent up a roar as their own team emerged behind their Seeker. Sarkan was rail-thin and certainly not tall, but he made up for it with an impressive scowl. He had the perfect build for a Seeker and a mind for strategy.

Agnieszka chuckled as the team captains came to stand opposite one another. Kasia was tall, muscular, golden; Sarkan was scrawny and pale. They shook hands before mounting their brooms. Kasia’s gaze found Agnieszka in the stands long enough for her to wink.

Madame Hooch dragged an enormous trunk over to the teams. It shook restlessly; the magical objects it contained seemed to know that they were seconds away from freedom. She dropped the trunk and pointed her wand at her throat, causing her voice to boom and echo through the stands.

“As you all know, this year's final game is between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.” She paused as the crowd cheered. “The outcome of this game will determine the recipient of the Inter-House Quidditch Cup. I expect a clean game and neat flying from all of you.”

Madame Hooch bent to release the latches on the trunk and immediately jumped back as the Bludgers and Snitch shot into the sky. Even from the stands, Agnieszka could see Sarkan turn his glittering black eyes on the Snitch and begin tracking its progress around the field.

Madame Hooch placed her whistle between her lips and muttered something around it to the captains, who both nodded. The teams crouched low to the ground, grasping their brooms in preparation. The stands fell into a brief, tense silence.

The whistle sounded.

Kasia kicked off with force and shot upwards in a streak of red against the cloudless blue sky. She and her fellow Beater – a fifth year called Rhys – made beelines for the two Bludgers, which had come to hover above the Ravenclaw goalposts. Meanwhile, the Keepers took their positions, a Ravenclaw Chaser snatched the Quaffle from midair and sped down the pitch, and Sarkan leapt towards where he had presumably last seen the Snitch.

“Jenny is off with the Quaffle, speeding towards the Gryffindor posts, passing to – intercepted by Alosha, back down the pitch, Alosha passes to Ness, back to Alosha, Alosha scores for Gryffindor! The Quaffle is back in Ravenclaw possession, carried by Maral, to Jenny again, back to Maral, intercepted!”

The names in the commentary blurred by Agnieszka. She didn't know very many people on the Gryffindor team besides Kasia; only Sarkan was familiar on Ravenclaw. Still, it was striking to watch the progress of the large red ball as it bounced from player to player at speeds almost too fast to follow. Meanwhile, Sarkan and the Gryffindor Seeker – Peter? – circled high above the other players like jewel-toned birds of prey.

Suddenly Sarkan swooped down into the fray. “He's seen it!” the announcer said excitedly. “Sarkan has seen the Snitch!” But once the Gryffindor Seeker had followed his dive and become entangled in a particularly complex play, Sarkan sped off towards the Gryffindor posts and began a series of tight, searching circles.

“All right, never mind, no sign of the Snitch yet. The Quaffle falls, caught by Alosha, who – _ouch_.”

Agnieszka snapped her gaze from the Gryffindor Chaser to Kasia, who held her bat aloft in victory. One jet black Bludger was spiraling back into the sky, directly away from its point of impact with the Ravenclaw Seeker.

Sarkan was still upright on his broom, but he held one arm at an odd angle as he dropped a few meters. He looked up as Kasia whooped. Agniesza couldn’t make out the details of his face, but she thought she could see his brows lower and his lips go thin.

“And it looks like that Bludger aimed by Gryffindor Beater Kasia has landed Ravenclaw Seeker Sarkan with a broken arm. No foul called – he’s descending to the pitch – nope, there he goes, back above the action – Kasia back into the fray, Jenny passes the Quaffle –”

Kasia’s scarlet robes fluttered as she swooped low over the Hufflepuff stands. Agnieszka managed a smile as her friend waved. It was all part of the game, after all, and Sarkan still circled above, his face set in a grim expression behind his goggles.

Still, something felt heavy in the pit of her stomach. Kasia was fierce in her loyalty. If Kasia was misguidedly trying to protect her – if Sarkan was seriously hurt because Agnieszka had been uncommunicative – she didn’t know how she would explain that.

To either of them.

She tried to push down her vague guilt and enjoy the game. The Quaffle leapt from team to team, the Bludgers whizzed about and narrowly avoided any more serious collisions, the Seekers kept circling above the match, occasionally making dives down into the action. Gryffindor scored four more times. Despite their aggressively strategic captain, the Ravenclaw team only managed 20 points – many of their players were young and inexperienced.

“…and that Bludger is heading towards Kasia there – he sees! Sarkan really sees the Snitch this time!”

The Gryffindor Seeker was neck and neck with Sarkan as he flew down like an arrow. Agnieszka was on her feet before she knew what she was doing, watching anxiously as Sarkan tucked in his bad arm and reached out with the other. The Bludger careened past Kasia and veered towards the Gryffindor Seeker, Kasia in hot pursuit with her bat at the ready.

Agnieszka could see the Snitch now: a flicker of gold and white, spiraling around Sarkan’s hand as he reached for it, teeth set in a grimace. His sapphire robes brushed the scarlet ones just beside him, neither Seeker aware of the Bludger soaring towards them nor the Beater giving chase.

The Snitch was centimeters from Sarkan’s fingertips when Kasia overtook the Bludger and placed herself between it and the other players. It was about to hit her Seeker – she pivoted on her broom – Agnieszka held her breath – Kasia swung her bat in a wide arc – two loud cracks – the Bludger soared away – Sarkan swerved off to the side – the Gryffindor Seeker closed his fingers around the Snitch –

“Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor with two hundred points, Ravenclaw with twenty, and the Snitch goes to Gryffindor.”

Agnieszka stumbled down through the stands and onto the edge of the pitch. Kasia’s mouth was open; her bat hung limply at her side where she still hovered fifty meters from the ground. The Gryffindor section roared and cheered and didn’t notice or care that the Ravenclaw Seeker was descending haltingly, slumped over his broom.

A series of spells leapt to Agnieszka’s tongue, but they felt too _heavy_ , and that was the last thing she needed. Cushioning spells, spells to slow a descent: all the technical charms that Sarkan favored, the chance that she would fumble the incantation too great to risk.

She stood frozen on the side of the pitch as Sarkan slipped from his broom and began to fall in earnest. Kasia regained her wits and dove after him, but she would be too late. Agnieszka raised her wand and spat out the first spell she remembered: “ _Herbivicus duo!_ ”

A bolt of green lightning shot from Agnieszka’s wand, but not towards Sarkan: it crackled onto the grass below him, which shot up in a tangle of greenery. Grasses wound around enormous flowers, two meters tall, then three, then higher.

Sarkan fell onto the lush cushion with barely a whisper.

Kasia pulled up abruptly before she crashed into the earth, stumbling off her broom. “Merlin, is he all right?” A few professors extricated themselves from the crowd and rushed towards their students, but Kasia and Agnieszka reached Sarkan first and began tearing aside the plants that had sprouted.

The Ravenclaw Seeker began regaining consciousness as they finally uncovered him. Kasia sighed in relief and covered her eyes with a shaking hand. Sarkan turned a weak glare to her, then to Agnieszka.

“Your technique was atrocious.”

Agnieszka’s eyes widened in disbelief – then narrowed as she crossed her arms. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

Sarkan inhaled sharply as he sat up, his broken arm limp in his lap. Agnieszka could see a massive purple bruise blossoming on his jaw where Kasia had hit him with her bat, but his speech was clear enough: nothing broken there.

The Seeker’s expression softened a little. “I suppose I am. No thanks to your friend.”

Kasia turned and stalked away.

“There are professors coming,” Agnieszka hurriedly assured Sarkan. “They can take you the hospital wing.”

Sarkan huffed but did not argue as she chased after Kasia. Her blonde hair had come partially undone from its tie, and it stuck to the sweat standing out on her neck. The crowd’s cheering had fallen into shocked silence, and now murmurs and whispers welled around them.

“I didn’t mean to knock him out,” Kasia muttered as Agnieszka caught up with her. “I did mean to hit him with the Bludger, but I’d never do _that_ on purpose.”

“I know.”

They walked in silence for a minute. Agnieszka tasted apologies and explanations on her tongue the same way she had sampled spells moments before. None of the words fit right. She still didn’t know how to tell Kasia about her tentative friendship with Sarkan, or the fierce affection she still felt for Kasia, or why she hadn’t spoken about the tutoring for months.

In the end, it was Kasia who broke the silence. “I’m sorry.”

“What? Why?”

She looked sidelong at Agnieszka. “I know you don’t hate Sarkan.”

“Well –”

“You might dislike him, sometimes, but you don’t hate him. You’ve helped each other. And maybe I – maybe I resent that. A little.”

Agnieszka opened her mouth. Shut it again. Opened it. “Oh.”

“But you don’t owe me anything.” Kasia jutted out her chin. “You may spend time with him but I know you’re still my friend. And it’s my fault that I saw through your complaining all these months and never said anything.”

“It’s my fault that I knew you were jealous and I pretended to believe when you said you weren’t,” Agnieszka admitted in a rush. They cleared the stands and began the long walk back to the castle. “I mean, everyone knows you’re smarter than me – and prettier and more athletic, but that’s beside the point –”

“And yet your quick thinking saved a life today.” Kasia smiled at Agnieszka. It was small, but it looked genuine. “And now here you are, being a perfect Hufflepuff and following me to make sure _I’m_ okay, instead of staying to make sure Sarkan is.”

“Should I have stayed?” Agnieszka wondered, casting a glance back without slowing her stride.

“He was awake and sarcastic. I’m sure he’s fine.”

Agnieszka laughed. “Anyway, I just mean that you’ve always been better at things than me. If you think that you should have been partnered with Sarkan, then I agree with you. I have no idea why he picked me.”

“Maybe he liiiiikes you.”

“How old are you?” Agnieszka gave Kasia a playful shove, and the Gryffindor captain laughed long and loud. “Ew. I don’t even want to think about that.”

Kasia put an arm around Agnieszka’s shoulders and pulled her close as they walked. Agnieszka’s heart swelled. “It’s okay, Nieszka. Maybe you’re not the best at communication, but I shouldn’t have been jealous. You deserve this. Besides, I wasn’t joking when I said that it would have interfered with Quidditch.”

“In more ways than one, I expect. If you knocked him out for being rude to me, what would you have done if he was rude to you?” They shared a laugh.

“I guess it all worked out,” Kasia mused. “You’re happy, I’m happy, Sarkan sustained some minor injuries –”

“Are a broken arm and a bruised jaw ‘minor injuries’?”

“—and Gryffindor won.”

A light spring breeze ruffled the grass as they returned to the castle. Agnieszka was content. There would be time later to visit Sarkan in the Hospital Wing and dodge explanations of Kasia’s behavior in favor of arguing for reduced study hours. Right now, Kasia’s arm was still around Agnieszka’s shoulders as she explained her plan to sneak into the Prefect’s Bathroom and use the bath. They were lighthearted and laughing, and everything that they were supposed to be. Agnieszka racked her brain for ways the moment could be improved.

She found nothing.


End file.
